Electronic components often require heat sinks and the like to remove heat therefrom to protect the components from thermal damage, especially when contained within an enclosure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,237,485 entitled "Apparatus and Method for Improved Thermal Coupling of A Semiconductor Package to a Cooling Plate" describes the use of a spring clip to hold the heat sink in good thermal relation to printed circuit board.
Miniature electric fans are added to the heat sink to further increase the rate of heat transfer away from electronic components.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,468 entitled "Fan Assembly for an Integrated Circuit" describes one method for attaching a custom fan and heat sink device to an integrated circuit for efficient heat transfer.
When a miniature fan and heat sink are to be assembled to preexisting electronic components, it would be economically feasible to be able to attach the fan and heat sink assembly to the electronic components printed circuit boards without having to drill holes in either the heat sink or printed circuit board to make the connection therewith.
One purpose of the invention is to provide a spring clip arrangement whereby the miniature fan and heat sink assembly can be attached to electronic components in the field or factory without requiring screws, rivets or the like to make the attachment.